KUCHING: The Sarawak General Operations Force (GOF) today announced crippling cigarette and alcohol smuggling activities, as well as an illegal logging activity involving an overall seizure worth RM723,485.60.
Sarawak GOF Commander SAC Mancha Ata in a statement said the successful operations were carried out in Engkelili, Sibu and Marudi under ‘Ops Libas’ between Oct 19 and 21.
“The first operation was carried out on Oct 19, at 1.00 pm at a house at No 115, Jelukong in Engkilili (about 211km from here) which was suspected to be used as a storage facility for contraband goods,” he said.
The raid at the premises found 13 brown boxes containing 650 cartons of illicit white cigarettes of various brands.
“The seized items amounting to RM97,500 (including tax) was handed over to the Lubok Antu district police for further action under Section 135 (1) (D) of the Customs Act 1967,” he said.
In the second operation on Oct 19, Mancha said a team from the 10th Battalion of GOF in Sibu raided a logging site at Batu 40, Jalan Sibu-Selangau, about 464km from here, and seized an excavator, a bulldozer and 40 timber logs believed to have been cut down illegally in the area.
According to him, a man who claimed to be the owner of the excavator and bulldozer was arrested after he failed to produce relevant documents authorising him to carry out logging activities in the area.
“The estimated total seizure amounted to RM505,000 which was then handed over to the Sibu Regional Forest Department to be investigated under the Sarawak Forest Ordinance 2015,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak GOF’s third operation involved the seizure of 107 boxes of liquor, 133 cartons of white cigarettes of various brands and 28 cartons of kretek cigarettes stored in a car yesterday at a house in Kampung Pemindahan in Marudi, about 747km north from here.
“The estimated value of the seized items amounting to RM120,985.60 includes liquor worth RM16,050, cigarettes (RM24,935.60) and the vehicle (RM80,000),” he said, adding that a man who was unloading the goods into the vehicle managed to escape. — Bernama
